Brighter days ahead for Houston's dark TV landscape

The fans' demands were of no use in solving the carriage issues that led to the CSNH bankruptcy.

The fans' demands were of no use in solving the carriage issues...

It appears we finally have seen the last of the airballs and foul balls that have kept a majority of Houstonians from watching Rockets and Astros games in the comfort of their living rooms.

A reorganization plan for Comcast SportsNet Houston, filed late Wednesday night, calls for the cable television network owned by the Astros, Rockets and Comcast to be reshaped and renamed, with ownership moving to DirecTV Sports Networks (60 percent) and AT&T (40 percent).

The Astros and Rockets have agreed to the plan, and unless something crazy happens - and crazy is an apt description for much of what has happened in this doomed partnership - when the NBA season begins in October, Rockets games will be available to the majority of the city. As will any Astros playoff games. (Stop laughing. They aren't yet mathematically eliminated.)

It's about darn time.

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If you don't have Comcast, which about 60 percent of the Houston area does not, you know what I mean.

I admit to not fully grasping how it would feel to be an outsider in this deal. The 40-percenters are a special lot. The rest of us are like zombies in a futuristic television series. For the most part, we're dead to the teams, and the teams are dead to us.

I didn't realize how disconnected I would be from the Astros if they weren't on my television every night.

One might say that isn't a particularly bad thing, considering the franchise has been mired in a historic run of ineptitude over the last four seasons. But out of sight does not mean out of mind. The picture just isn't as clear.

As fine a job as Evan Drellich and Jesus Ortiz have done covering the team for the Chronicle, there is nothing like seeing for yourself how pitiful the team is.

It is baseball season, and we should be watching baseball. Even if it is bad baseball.

Around my house, when the Astros go on long summer road trips they become about as relevant as that double-sided fireplace in the den and library. I've spent so much time at Three Bs Grill in Kingwood - CSN Houston is available there, but not at my house a mere three blocks away - that they named a dish after me.

My laptops have been exposed to every virus imaginable in attempts to watch Rockets games on various bootleg websites. Um, I mean, I'm sure my laptops would have been exposed to every virus imaginable were I the type of person to engage in the illegal activity of watching Rockets games on bootleg websites.

Change in blame game

Early on, I decided whining and complaining about the situation would matter little. Plus, I truly believed there were no bad guys. I thought it was a simple case of multiple businesses trying to get the most out of a business deal.

Now, I think every entity is the bad guy.

When the network launched, it was understood that getting distribution would be the most important factor in its success. It was understood that distribution would be a challenge.

It was not understood, nor was it conveyed by the powers that be, that the situation would be unresolved almost two years later.

Astros owner Jim Crane says that more than half of the $615 million he paid to buy the team, a cool $326 million, was for a 46.5 percent share in CSN Houston.

If that is indeed factual, were Crane to sell the Astros after CSN Houston is owned by DirecTV and AT&T, he would be selling for a lot less than he bought.

In March, Forbes estimated the Astros' value at $530 million, only the 26th highest-valued team in 30-team MLB, ahead of only Miami ($500 million), Oakland ($495 million), Kansas City ($490 million) and Tampa Bay ($485 million).

Of course, Forbes put the Los Angeles Clippers' value a little above the Astros', and that team recently sold for $2 billion.

Crane couldn't get that for the Astros, but a professional sports executive told me that were Crane to sell the Astros right now, he would get his investment back and then some, regardless of what happens with CSN Houston.

Under the reorganization plan, according to someone with knowledge of the deal, the Astros and Rockets will preserve previously negotiated rights fees, but they stand to lose all equity in the company, monies owed from the network, and cash they put in to keep the network afloat. Don't be surprised if the two file lawsuits against Comcast to try to recoup some of those lost funds.

The biggest losers have been Houston fans. Isn't that the case most of the time? Losing, or not winning if you prefer your broken glass to be half full, has become part of the city's landscape.

Company in misery

Forbes released its silly "2014 List of America's Most Miserable Sports Cities" on Thursday, and Houston finished sixth. My goodness, we can't even beat everybody else at losing. (On a side note, the Rangers are in town for a three-game set this weekend. The best loser gets the best draft pick.)

Forbes uses a flawed formula to determine miserableness. It gives Buffalo more points for losing all four of its Super Bowl appearances than it gives Houston for not making an appearance in 49 straight Super Bowls. (Yeah, I know, there have been only 48 Super Bowls, but it's not like the Texans will play in the game this season.)

The fact that many of us are miserable that we can't pay our cable/satellite provider extra money every month to watch the miserable Astros in the miserable dog days of August should have strengthened that ranking.

Thankfully, it appears those days will be over soon. I guess we're we supposed to celebrate.

Listen to "The Rush" with Jerome Solomon and Dave Tepper weekdays from noon-2 p.m. on ESPN 97.5 FM.